In an unprecedented development, thousands of women and men came out on the street chanting “death to Pakistan” , “Freedom, liberty is our ultimate right”, “Women right is human rights,” on Tuesday. Hundreds of them rallied outside the Pakistani embassy protesting what they said was meddling by Islamabad in Afghanistan.
According to the Asvaka News Agency, the Taliban opened fire on protesters gathered near the Presidential Palace in Kabul. The protesters were marching towards the Kabul Serena Hotel where the Pakistan ISI director has been staying since last week.
Anger mounting on the streets of Kabul, people chanting "freedom" and "death to Pakistan". The demonstrators, many of them women, are in the centre of the Afghan capital #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/Jg5RDzFsiA
— Yalda Hakim (@SkyYaldaHakim) September 7, 2021
Pakistan’s intelligence chief arrived in the Afghan capital on Saturday to sort out the internal differences in the Taliban, and to help them to capture Panjshir, the heart of the anti-Taliban resistance.
Former Pakistani foreign secretary Salman Bashir praised the “changed” Taliban who allowed women to “demonstrate”.
“Freedom of expression’ and ‘right to protest’ under the Taliban rule. Women activists at work. Tolo also reports independently. This contrasts with the alternate picture of the Talibs. Definitely, a society showing irreversible symptoms of transformation- Afghan Spring!”
But Bashir’s spin that a moderate Taliban had emerged may be premature as the group fired in the air to disperse the protesters! Besides, anti-Pakistan sentiment is peaking after Islamabad brazenly used armed drones and helicopters to target the resistance fighters in the Panjshir valley on Sunday.
Reports about the emergence of a hardline Taliban government remote controlled by Pakistan has further inflamed anti-Islamabad fury. The much-expected name of Mullah Baradar as the head of the new Taliban government has suddenly been replaced by a lesser-known face Mullah Hasan Akhund overnight, Pakistani media reports say. In fact, most of the probable names of the Taliban’s Doha political office were either removed or “demoted” in the new list of the Taliban government. Most of the top posts of a government-in-the-making appear to be drawn from the pro-ISI Quetta Shura and the Haqqani network, known for its penchant for extreme brutality.
“This is Kabul, men and women out in the streets, chanting against Pakistan and Taliban, and in support of the resistance in Panjshir. Freedom! Freedom!” pic.twitter.com/3PK2h5EAKv
— Jalil (@Jalilpa) September 7, 2021
“We are not defending our right for a job or which position we will work in, we are defending the blood of our youth, we are defending our country, our land for those forcing the Taliban on us ,” said one woman protester.
Social media is full of videos and pictures of demonstrations.
“This is Kabul, men and women out in the streets, chanting against Pakistan and Taliban, and in support of the resistance in Panjshir. Freedom! Freedom!” says one user sharing the video clips.
“I strongly believe that these protests, these are the very beginning steps to confront the Taliban,” Shkula Zadran,a member of AfghanYouth Representative told CNN.
Though the Taliban fighters did try to disperse the demonstrators using force, unfazed women stood on their grounds in defiance.
In the last few days, scores of women have staged protests in Kabul, the western city of Herat, and the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif , demanding equal rights.
Afghanistan’s new rulers have pledged to be more “inclusive” than during their first stint in power, with a government that represents the country’s complex ethnic makeup — though women are unlikely to be included.
Women’s freedoms in Afghanistan were sharply curtailed under the Taliban’s 1996-2001 rule.
“We are not defending our right for a job or which position we will work in, we are defending the blood of our youth, we are defending our country, our land” for those forcing the Taliban on us #NationalUprisingAgainstTaliban pic.twitter.com/RkvQqr8OXh https://t.co/RkvQqr8OXh
— Munazza Ebtikar (@mebtikar) September 7, 2021
